The Auxiliary to the National Medical Association, Incorporated (ANMA) was formally organized on August 19, 1936, in St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. John T. Givens of Norfolk, Virginia, was elected as the Auxiliary’s first president and is proclaimed the Founder of the Women’s Auxiliary to the National Medical Association. The name was changed in 1977 to the Auxiliary to the National Medical Association in recognition of the increase in the number of spouses of female physicians. It was incorporated at that time. ANMA consists of spouses of members of the National Medical Association (NMA). The membership of NMA is drawn from a pool consisting of approximately 45,000 physicians in the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Island, Guam, and Jamaica.

ANMA, a 501(C) 3 organization, is proud of its history of partnering with agencies and organizations to provide community-based health education programs to reduce racial and ethnic disparities; increase workforce diversity in the health sciences; advocate on a variety of health and health care issues, and to provide scholarships to worthy students. Over our history spanning more than eight decades, the Auxiliary has executed numerous health education outreach programs and activities, including but not limited to:

• Awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships through the Alma Wells Givens Scholarship Fund to medical students enrolled at the Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry School of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Morehouse Medical College; more than $100,000 in scholarships to the four aforementioned Historically Black Medical Schools through the Jesse B. Barber, Jr., MD Memorial Scholarship Fund; more than $60,000 in scholarship through the Omega Mason/Maude Bisson Scholarship Fund to nursing students annually in the host convention city, and 2,000 through the Lela Duffel Morris National Scholarship to a competitive student interested in nursing;
• Received funding from the Office of Minority Health, the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Health Services and Resources Administration, and other federal agencies to provide the National African-American Youth Initiative Scholars Program (NAAYI) – an eleven-day residential program designed to increase the pool of African Americans in health related careers implemented for 19 years;
• Received funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Office of Minority Health for its Healthy Children Program, designed to provide health screenings and immunizations to children;
• Received funding from the Office of Population Control, as well as Pfizer, AstraZeneca, the Library of Medicine, and Merck, to provide Project Sun, a prevention-based, lifestyle choices and goal setting program for African-American elementary school students;
• Received funding from AstraZeneca, American Association of Retired Professionals (AARP), and Pfizer for its Medicare Part D Program, designed to reach out to, inform, and facilitate the enrollment of African Americans in Medicare Part D;
• Advocated for neglected and abused children, high school drop-out prevention, excellence in public schools, and gun safety;
• Received funding from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Altria, the Avon Foundation and FDA to provide women’s health programs, including the recently held Triple Negative Breast Cancer Initiative;
• Received funding from Aetna for the workshops on the Affordable Care Act and Triple Negative Breast Cancer.
• Received funding for scholarship fundraisers from United Health Foundation, Pfizer, NitroMed, Anheuser Busch and numerous companies in the convention cities;
• Received funding and partnered with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide regional programs throughout the year on disease prevention by focusing on diet and nutrition;
• Received funding from Merrill Lynch for a Financial Health Program designed to improve the financial status of African Americans through asset acquisition, management, and preservation.
• Partnered with the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the National Foundation, March of Dimes to provide youth forums on topics such as teenage pregnancy, violence, community health services, diet and nutrition, physical activity, sexually transmitted diseases, and other conditions disproportionately affecting African Americans;
• Distributed “Be the Best You Can Be” Coloring Books to youth across the nation to promote desirable character traits for academic and workforce success;

 

The Auxiliary to the National Medical Association, Incorporated continues to support the National Medical Association by providing consumer health education programs, advocating for healthy communities, and providing scholarship assistance to worthy students in medicine and nursing.